Selph
Selph (also known as Self) is a deleted character which was originally going appear in NiGHTS into Dreams and is one of the most speculated topics about the NiGHTS series by the community. Overview Official Informations In an interview made by fans, Takashi Iizuka, who was surprised when he found out that fans knew about the character's existence, said that Selph was intended to be a boss in the game, but he got deleted because Iizuka believed the game's story was already perfect, http://www.nightsintodreams.com/?p=640 implying that Selph would impact the game's story. Yuji Naka said in an interview that Selph was based on the self archetype from Carl Jung's theory and described him as "Myself I could never be exceeded". http://www.nightsintodreams.com/?p=1343 Files and Data discovered Even through Selph was deleted, some of his data was found in the files by a hacker, his name was found in a list nicknaming all of the game's bosses, being the seventh boss listed, after "M6:MONSTER-FISH" (Gulpo) and before "#M8:WIZED-MAN" (Wizeman). http://www.sonic-cult.org/dispart.php?catid=8&gameid=1&subid=1&artid=3 Selph also already had a boss battle theme called "Know Thyself", which bears an interesting resemblance to "Dreams, Dreams", leading many fans to believe that Selph has a strong connection to NiGHTS or that he may resembles NiGHTS. (No data related to his physical design exists though, making it pure speculation). Another hacker also found parts of what appears to be a mirror staff which is speculated to be a weapon he would use. http://nidheadcanons.tumblr.com/post/120558864592/big-post-that-i-found-about-self Speculations NOTE: The following topics are just '''pure fan speculations and theories' and nothing can be confirmed official unless the game's developers say so.'' * Selph was going to be Claris final boss: In the game's files, Twin Seeds is named "#P7:ELIOT'S-CITY" and there is a deleted level named "#P8:SPIRAL-CLARIS" (Spiral Claris), https://nid.fandom.com/wiki/NiGHTS_into_Dreams#cite_note-:1-2 making it safe to assume Twin Seeds was originally going to be an Elliot's exclusive level and Claris was intended to have her own unique final level, the deleted level'' is speculated to be where Selph would be featured as it's boss, making him consequently the final boss of Claris' story. ** Assuming the speculation above is true, that would mean Selph could potentially have a connection with Claris or he could represent something about her, as stated above, Yuji Naka described Selph as "''Myself I could never be exceeded", so it's possible that Selph would possibly represent what Claris wishes she could be, but she don't think she ever will, that would also mean Wizeman, who would consequently be an Elliot's exclusive boss, was originally designed to represent something about or be more connected to Elliot. ** Once again, assuming the speculation above is true, that would also mean Selph would most likely be a really powerful character, considering he would be a final boss along with Wizeman, who's the God of all Nightmare and he would most likely be more important to the story than the other bosses, including even Reala. ** There are fans who contradict this theory, claiming that Selph was not Spiral Claris' boss (nor Claris' story final boss) but rather a hidden/secret boss, however, there are currently no source confirming that statement. * "Selph" might not be the character's actual name: Selph's name was found in a list from the files which was nicknaming all of the game's bosses, with Gillwing being nicknamed "#M1:FROGED-DRAGON", Puffy being "#M2:MRS.FATTY", Clawz being "#M3:FIRE-CAT'S", Jackle being "#''M5:MANTLE-MAN''", Gulpo being "M6:MONSTER-FISH" and Wizeman being "#M8:WIZED-MAN", Selph is simply called "#M7:SELPH" meaning the name "Selph" could actually be a nickname or a provisional name for the character, the list was most likely made at the very beggining of the game's development, back when none of the characters had an official name and these nicknames were simply how they were addressed, by the time the characters got their official names, Selph was most likely already scrapped. ** However, there still is a possibility that his name might be indeed Selph, because Reala was not nicknamed in the list, instead, he was simply called "#M4:THE-REALA", additionatly, both Yuji Naka and Takashi Iizuka refereed to him by that name and neither ever said "Selph" was simply an provisional name or a nickname for the character. * Selph may not be an actual nightmaren: Selph would be based on the Self archetype from Carl Jung's theory about dreams, which has traits that would be strange for a nightmaren, the archetype is said to appear in dreams in the form of royal figures/divine beings and is expressed with numinous aura around them. ** Considering that Selph is speculated to be the final boss from Claris story, it would make sense for him to be very important or different from the other bosses, since he would be one of the two final bosses from the game, along with the God of the Nightmarens himself. *** As stated above, the Self archetype appears in the dreams in the form royal figures or divine beings, so Selph might be indeed a character who could potentially match Wizeman's level of power. * Selph may look similar to NiGHTS: Even though there are no data related to his physical design nor hints about how Selph might look like, many people speculate and even assume he'd look similar to NiGHTS, since he'd be inspired on the Self and his theme is called "Know Thyself", additionally, his boss theme bears an interesting resemblance to "Dreams, Dreams", another character who's boss theme resembles the same song in some bits is Reala, who also look similar to NiGHTS. * "More NiGHTS" icon character is Selph: In the NiGHTS into Dreams official japanese website, there's an icon with a never seen before character's head and the message "More NiGHTS" displayed under the it, the unknown character is speculated by some fans to be Selph, he looks similar to NiGHTS and Reala, but with different colors and his head and hat shape are unique. ** A similar head appears in a NiGHTS into Dreams magazine ad, with NiGHTS already having his official and final design, making the chances of the character being Selph lower, because by the time this ad was made, the game was already nearly being launched and Selph was most definitely already scrapped, plus, it would be unlikely that the developers of the game would use a scrapped character's head in an ad, still, it's odd that the character's head shape, hat shape and colors are unique. * Selph had mirror thematics: Selph having mirror thematics makes a lot of sense, considering he is based on the Self and the fact his boss theme was called "Know Thyself" and as stated above, a hacker found parts of what appears to be a mirror staff in the files which is speculated to be a weapon that Selph would use. * "SOOOORA" is a Selph sound file: There's an unused sound file that can be found in the game's data of a man saying something which sounds like "sooooora" which is speculated to be a Selph sound file. http://www.nightsintodreams.com/forum/topic/4270-sound-ripping/?hl=sora Gallery Selfico.png | A unused icon that supposed to appear in Level High score list. Looks like a side profile with a tear shaped head and a neck. Pole.png | Supposed part of "Mirror Staff", but most likely to be a decoration Trivia * All of the official information about Selph was acquired by Niyazi Sonmez and Lynne Triplett, (who are best known by the names Digi Valentine and TRiPPY respectively) two very famous and dedicated NiGHTS fans who are responsable for making many things for the community such as a fan site called NiGHTSintodreams.com, a campaing to make NiGHTS a DLC character in Sonic and SEGA All Star Racing and for interviewing and bringing questions from the fans for the series creators. * As stated in the speculations, Selph is speculated to have mirror thematics and look similar to NiGHTS, later, NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams would feature a mirror thematic level (Crystal Castle) and a turtle like third level nightmaren also with mirror thematics who can shapeshift into NiGHTS called Murtle. * According to Jung, the Self archetype appears in dreams as royal figures, divine beings, mandalas and holy items. * The archetype of Wise Old Man could be considered to be one of symbols of the Self, meaning Wizeman was probably related to Selph. * A hacker found nearly all of tracks from NiGHTS into Dreams in the NiGHTS: Journey of Dreams files, including Know Thyself, however, considering all of the NiGHTS into Dreams boss themes were found as well, it's safe to assume Selph was not planned to appear in the game. http://www.nightsintodreams.com/forum/topic/4575-unused-content-in-journey-of-dreams/ * Possesion by the Self and mana personalities, that are lower expression of it (Great Mother and Wise old man) causes megalomania, aka delusion of grandeur which "Myself I could never be exceeded" probably meant. * Self still has 2 name plates in the game files. First one is supposed to be used in Dream Dairy and the second one was supposed to be in the ending, where are 3D renders of the characters are shown, it is possible Self appeared in the ending in earlier builds and had a 3D render. * Self is the most famous deleted/unused Nightmaren. See Also * Unnamed Scrapped Nightmarens: List of other nightmarens who were scrapped or disconsidered during the game's development. Videos NiGHTS into Dreams OST Know Thyself | Selph's theme found in the game's files. References ru:Селф __NEWSECTIONLINK__ Category:Characters Category:Nightmarens Category:Removed Content Category:Nightmarens (Nights into Dreams) Category:Bosses in : Nights into dreams